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I am relatively new to mountain biking but learning a lot quickly. I did a ride yesterday with about 150 people. Everything was great until the first hill. It was an epic hill. I live in Vermont. It was 2.35 mile with a total vertical gain of 1100 feet. Anyhow, I was blown away by almost everyone. I ride a Trek 4300 with a granny gear ratio of 22 teeth front and 30 teeth rear. I am in great shape and a cardio freak. Is it possible everyone else had a better gear ratio or am I an enormous pussy? I would like to hear some feedback please.
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"michaellifts" wrote
I am relatively new to mountain biking but learning a lot quickly. I did a ride yesterday with about 150 people. Everything was great until the first hill. It was an epic hill. I live in Vermont. It was 2.35 mile with a total vertical gain of 1100 feet. Anyhow, I was blown away by almost everyone. I ride a Trek 4300 with a granny gear ratio of 22 teeth front and 30 teeth rear. I am in great shape and a cardio freak. Is it possible everyone else had a better gear ratio or am I an enormous pussy? I would like to hear some feedback please.
My vote is for enormous pussy! 😆 😆 😆
just kidding bro’, different gearing ratio could have been the issue, I did a road ride this past Friday with my boss and even though he did drop me (not by much) on 2 of the 4 climbs we had, he was working a lot harder then I was because of his gearing ratio compared to mine..
I just like the way this photo came out
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BTW this was just as we finished our loop at GOG (garden of the gods)…
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My guess is that it’s simply because your new to biking. Even if you are in great shape and great cardio, different activities like biking, running, weights, all work different muscles. You may be in great shape for one thing but not great at another because its using different muscles. I don’t think other riders gear ratios would make a big different unless they where on lighter bikes or road bikes(didn’t see you mention if it was a trail or road ride). Plus I think that elevation gain over that distance sounds tough in itself. one of the rides I do has 1000 feet elevation gain over about 4 miles and I’d consider that tough(partly due to it starting at 9,200′) , so the ride you did sounds like the climbing would be almost twice as much as what I normally do. So just keep at it, it takes time to get stronger legs to go flying up hills regardless of your gear ratios.
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I rode for two years with an 11-30 cassette and I had no idea there was anything better. Out here most geared bikes run 11-34. If climbing is the norm for you, then you should look at upgrading your cassette.
Also, once you get your legs built up, try rocking one of those hills in the middle ring, and granny gear on your cassette. It sounds impossible but a friend of mine challenged me to try it at Deer Creek last summer and I made it, and was a LOT faster getting to the top.
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Be careful upgrading cassettes though. There are 2 types, threaded and not threaded. Yours is most likely threaded. And be sure they are the same speed/number of gears.
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Might be gearing, although your gears sound pretty low to me — certainly a lot lower than anything I ride.
These days I am more of a roadie than a hard core mtn biker, but my idea is that there is no reason to ride any differently on the road or trail, on hills vs flats, from a bio-mechanical perspective anyway (there may be different compromises for aerodynamics, comfort or bike handling reasons, of course). That means, assuming you have the available gears, riding at the same cadence, and same degree of exertion on climbs as on the flats. So, if you are most efficient at a fast cadence, you may well need some lower gear options. For me, I am most efficient at a relatively slow (60-70) cadence and seldom get into my lowest available gears, whether on the road or trail. But it seems most people do better at a faster cadence.
I suggest you use your bike computer and a heart rate monitor, and find a moderate, steady grade that makes you work fairly hard. Start with whatever gearing feels most natural to you, note your speed and heart rate. Then, while maintaining constant speed, shift to bigger and smaller gears and note the change in heart rate. Keep this up until you determine what gearing gives you the lowest hr for that speed, and then measure your cadence. Repeat this under other conditions to verify that this is the cadence at which you are most efficient.
A lot of what you probably need is just more practice on hills, in part to learn how to best pace yourself, what cadence works best, etc. Of course, weight is the big enemy for climbing, so getting the kilos off of your body and your bike are what really helps. One of the reasons I still ride an old ti framed hardtail.
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maddslacker is correct if you can handle the gear. Middle ring is the best place to gain more ground but there are a couple of other things to look at. Are you running pedals that allow you to lock in? You would be loosing a good bit of power if not. Cadence is important. Find out what is best for you so you can generate the best power for the longest time. If you can’t manage middle ring in granny grear shift up a couple in the back as you go to lowest in the front. This will allow you to cover almost as much ground but allow you to spin and stay on "top of the gear". More riding will make all this make since as you get more time in the saddle. A lower bail out on the rear will help but keep in mind the inner ring and granny on the rear will be the slowest way up the hill. If you are just starting out don’t worry about being the fastest or you might start hating the sport. Being old and fat is my excuse and I use it when necessary. Once you get better you’ll have more fun than you thought was possible. 😄 Later,
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I am not worried so much in the gear ratio as how are your legs, do you feel like you are pushing or mashing the gears on climbs. I down shift and just spin more. Easier on the knees/legs
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"fat_billy" wrote
If you can’t manage middle ring in granny grear shift up a couple in the back as you go to lowest in the front. This will allow you to cover almost as much ground but allow you to spin and stay on "top of the gear".
I tend to switch between this and middle ring, seated and out of the saddle. It helps to move the workload around between different muscle groups.
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in mountain biking gear ratio is one of the biggest factor to consider.
its not just about the # of teeth of front and back gear, you can also try to consider the tire size, and the length of the pedal. try to play around until it fits your needs..
im really no expert on this just answering you based on my experience. good luck and ride safe.
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Tire pressure plays a big role too low and your killing your self, too high and your killing your tread, kinda like a car, too low and your killing your gas milage too high your still killing your tread also both have a tendency to blow a flat check your TP with your body weight, not 100% a solution but its def. the cheapest check you can do
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"1sikkHucker" wrote
Tire pressure plays a big role too low and your killing your self, too high and your killing your tread, kinda like a car, too low and your killing your gas milage too high your still killing your tread also both have a tendency to blow a flat check your TP with your body weight, not 100% a solution but its def. the cheapest check you can do
I don’t know if you can make a statement like this across the board. If you ride a hardtail(like I do), then you might want to change it to "too high and you beat yourself to death". Your tires not only play a big part in the role of your suspension, but research has shown that in roots/rocks, lower pressure makes you faster, as the tire conforms to the obstacle allowing you to maintain your speed, where a higher pressure converts your forward motion to upward, not only hurting you, but taking away some of your momentum in the process.
Lower gearing, maybe, but at least in my terrain, I’ll not be airing up to make it up the hills. Lower the pressure until pinch flats occur, then bump it back up a little.
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"schwim" wrote
[quote="1sikkHucker":12q7bbbe]Tire pressure plays a big role too low and your killing your self, too high and your killing your tread, kinda like a car, too low and your killing your gas milage too high your still killing your tread also both have a tendency to blow a flat check your TP with your body weight, not 100% a solution but its def. the cheapest check you can do
I don’t know if you can make a statement like this across the board. If you ride a hardtail(like I do), then you might want to change it to "too high and you beat yourself to death". Your tires not only play a big part in the role of your suspension, but research has shown that in roots/rocks, lower pressure makes you faster, as the tire conforms to the obstacle allowing you to maintain your speed, where a higher pressure converts your forward motion to upward, not only hurting you, but taking away some of your momentum in the process.
Lower gearing, maybe, but at least in my terrain, I’ll not be airing up to make it up the hills. Lower the pressure until pinch flats occur, then bump it back up a little.[/quote:12q7bbbe]
@schwim I may have gotten Buddah’s pics (road riding) confused with the original post. I’m sure you have been biking longer than I have and you have been a wealth of knowledge to me so far (not being sarcastic) however, common sense will tell you that tire pressure that is too low creates more friction which is great for making a larger "paw" print for traction but in turn requires more energy to move foward and up hills also I did say in my orig. post "TOO high and…&TOO low will…etc. meaning not the right T.P. for the type of riding they are doing, body mass etc. will effect the rider. Either way I’m sure it is the gearing I just wanted to give him an inexpensive check before he starts buying parts and equip. he may not need…..we still friends? 😃 -
Hehe, just joining in on the discussion. No need to apologize for being part of the community 😀
The only issue I was pointing out was the ambiguity of "too low". If you ride up a hill running 5 psi, youre definitely going to have issues you mention due to the pressure being "too low". Many riders often run 30-35 lbs with tubes and 20-25 lbs if tubeless. When you hear those numbers, it sure sounds low to someone new to riding when it’s actually quite commonplace.
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😆 I got ya brother I just pictured the rider trying to climb the hill with almost a flat and blaming the gears or something, and some riders forget to chk the pressure on occasion with temp changes etc. either way I hope the guy figures it out also that big of a group on a trail? WOW!! most people I’ve ridden with is 5
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noob questions..
whats all these gear ratio and stuff i’m reading i’m so lost!! 😳 .. i wanna to learn more about this. I am also a new biker and I’ve been struggling on uphills. It happens too often seeing people pass me on uphills during some trail ride i do 😢 . I feel I have a decent endurance and somehow always gasping for air during inclines. I know for sure the climbs I do is no where as lengthy as michaellifts climb but i just can’t do it. 😢 -
I could try for a quick primmer on ratios.
sprockets are measured by number of teeth. (You could use diameter but you’d get the same answer.) so if the rings (by the pedals) and the driven gear at the wheel are the same size it’s 1:1. or if it were double the size of the rear it’s 2:1
I’m sure you’ve noticed that if the chain is on the big front ring, You must push harder but you go faster. and vice versa for the rear. Just exactly whats best, as this thread shows is open for debate. But to go fast up hill pull the most gear you can efficiently, but then hart longs protest because your moving away from the center of the planet quickly. (the rate of energy use(power) should be about the same in any gear for the same speed on the same grade with the same mass. But gearing effects the efficiency of your pedaling.)
If your red lined and must recover, as apposed to grinding it out to the top, get in lower or lowest gear and spin easy or stop till you recover a little.
Doing a lot of it will help. So keep practicing. Cheers
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